After following the Saints for a couple of years now, spending thousands of hours on message boards, tv shows or at the pub with my americans mates from the uni, I still struggle to figure out what exactly is the US mindset about the Saints. Let me explain.

If we had to pick up the most populars nfl teams in the US, it would probably be the Packers, the Pats, the Cowboys, the Giants or the Steelers.

All these teams (especially the 2 first ones) have thousands and thousands of fans that are flooding the internet with "Packers are the best", "Brady best QB ever" etc... No doubt they are popular.

But what about the Saints ? Sure what happened in 2005 and the 2009 Superbowl has drawn the attention to New Orleans, but what about now ?

One thing that was "shocking" last season is the lack of media coverage on Drew Brees and the Saints offense until the MNF game against Giants. Before that game, there were 2 quarterbacks in the league : Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. Eventhough Brees pulled out some incredible performances against the Packers, the Bears, the Texans, the Colts etc... Drew Brees didn't belong to the Rodgers/Brady league.

I'm not living in the US, but I'm firmly convinced that the Saints suffers from their small market. They're located too far in the South, and the attention they got from Katrina and their SB is over now.
I'm 100% convinced that if Drew Brees was playing for a more popular team, he would probably had won one or two MVP titles over the last seasons.

I mean just have a look at these message boards. Whenever there's a debate about who got the greatest offense, who's the best qb etc... nobody mentions Brees or the Saints, it's all about the Packers, Brady, Rodgers and the Pats.

I would really like to know what's your perception of the "Saints place in the US" according to you, since you guys are living there.

The Saints, as you pointed out, are the victim of a small market. They aren't TOO far South, but it just so happens that the Southeast is a crowded football market. You have Tampa, Jacksonville, Miami, Carolina, Atlanta, Tennessee, Kansas City, St. Louis, Dallas, and Houston all in pretty close proximity to the Saints. The Patriots are the same (in the northeast), but, while both the Saints and Pats are dynasties, the Patriots have been a dynasty for about twice as long, so they've garnered more attention. The Packers... The Packers are a team in the literal middle of nowhere, so it's natural the people in the surrounding areas of nowhere that like football would be Packers fans. Football fandom is sort of a virus. One Packers fan, out of an already HUGE fanbase, goes to Europe and the contamination begins. Same reason the Steelers are huge in Ireland (their owner is the US ambassador to Ireland).

So really, it's just not the same luck that the Packers or Pats have had, but really it doesn't matter. I'd rather be a part of a smaller fanbase, that way it's more meaningful when you run into a fan somewhere else.